Another blog I enjoy from time to time is inhabitat. As the site explains, "Inhabitat.com is a weblog devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future."
A recent post caught my eye, especially after reading up again on Afrigadget. Matthew Malone, Amanda Goldberg, Jennifer Metcalf and Grant Meacham have come up with an ingenious design for emergency shelters. Their 'recover' is a polypropylene origami wonder that is easily stackable, transportable and multi-purpose in that it can even collect rainwater.
More on the recover can be found at Yanko Design.
Well, they make this sound and look really cool. And I'm all for improving conditions in refugee camps, which I can imagine being possible locations to use these (although they only last for 1 month???). There's a lot of criticism of them, though, on the website (see toward the bottom), namely that they wouldn't stand up to a heavy wind, despite the tie-offs. Might be an idea for the UNHCR and similar to look into, though...
ReplyDeleteAre they something that women will want to cook, clean, wash, bathe and similar in 24/7?
ReplyDeleteDo they allow people to cordon off places for men and women to wash/bathe and to pray?
Are they likely to be sold off at a moment's notice straight off the truck and into the hands of the private sector without even getting to people first?
What is their cost per unit squared when compared with a comparable amount of plastic blue sheeting?